


Gone With the Sun

by daftalchemist



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Drabble, Feels, Fluff, M/M, Post-Episode: e049 Old Oak Doors Part B
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-09
Updated: 2014-07-09
Packaged: 2018-02-08 04:40:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1926951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daftalchemist/pseuds/daftalchemist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Long distance relationships take some adjusting to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gone With the Sun

There was nothing; no settling of weight, no creak in the mattress springs, no discernable difference between then and before, but Cecil knew. Somewhere deep in sleep, he knew. The light was brighter, or perhaps different, caressing his skin softer than the unforgiving desert sun had ever cared to. It soaked into his skin, bathing his muscles and bone in warmth, wrapping his mind in a kind embrace and kissing his senses awake. He stirred, whisper soft movements underneath the blanket, and was smiling before he even opened his eyes. Carlos smiled as well, his head hovering oddly above his pillow and the sun streaming around him, and through him, brightening his handsome smile considerably.

Cecil chuckled groggily, dislodging sleep from his throat and lungs. “You’re not real.”

“In a manner of speaking, I suppose,” Carlos replied, his voice already awake and alive, soothing and light. “I _am_ real, but….”

“I can’t touch you,” Cecil finished, his exhausted voice trailing off, and his smile falling.

Carlos nodded. “That seems the most likely possibility, yes. I’m sorry.”

The smile slowly crept back across Cecil’s lips, and he reached out slowly, touching his fingers to Carlos’, twining them together. They sunk through his dark skin--long, thin digits disappearing inside a wide, strong palm--and he shrugged.

“I wanted to run an experiment,” he explained, his voice less of a croak and more of an unintentional whisper, and Carlos grinned wide and toothy.

“Very admirable. You are practically a scientist, after all.”

Cecil scooted closer, the bed dipping and cutting into Carlos’ form in somewhat odd angles, his feet all but disappearing into the mattress.

“Is it hot?” Cecil asked, nestling his head onto Carlos’ pillow and curling himself around his face, his chest. He loved Carlos’ legs, truly, but for the moment, he didn’t quite care if his own body blocked the sight of them.

Carlos nodded. “Almost always. Sometimes it’s a little cold, but the sun never stops shining. It’s a mystery I haven’t solved.” He chuckled. “It’s hard to do science when you’ve left all your equipment at home.”

Cecil’s throat tightened, and he found those tears he thought he’d run out of so many nights before.

“Cecil…,” Carlos cooed, reaching out to brush them away. They stayed where they were, rolling heavily over his cheeks, but Cecil closed his eyes, pretended a soft hand had just touched his skin and wiped away his pain, and when he opened his eyes he found he was smiling just as brightly as Carlos again.

“Is it lonely?” he asked, reaching out and straightening lab coat lapels that could neither be touched nor straightened.

“Sometimes. Usually.” Carlos paused, looked somewhere behind him. Out the bedroom window and into the vast desert wastes that only he could see. “The warriors are here, generally. Here or there. Sometimes they talk, but not always.”

He turned back towards Cecil, his face twisted ever so slightly in disgust. “There’s a… _stranger_ here. I don’t know him, but he _looks_ like… well, I don’t want to talk about what he looks like. He doesn’t talk to me though, and I can’t say I’m not thankful for that.”

Cecil grimaced, nodded. “Right. _Him_.”

A moment passed with no words between them; just a rising sun and a flickering scientist, still smiling, still existing in some sense and form in the place he belonged, but trapped in a much more concrete sense where he didn’t.

“How’s the town?” Carlos asked when the silence felt too long and deep, and the warm light in Cecil’s eyes were beginning to dim.

He brightened almost immediately, removed from whatever dark place his thoughts were taking him to this time. “Oh, well… it’s a little early to tell how things will turn out, I think. Dana is mayor now though.”

“Really?” Carlos said, face twisted in a sort of pained disbelief, and Cecil furrowed his brows in confusion.

“Yes. It was decided by….” He trailed off, finding the words waiting on his tongue unimportant. “You don’t think she’ll do a good job?”

“Oh, nothing like that!” Carlos chuckled, but his expression still fell back into one of concern. “It’s just… not a job I’d wish on a friend.”

“Yeah,” Cecil agreed, lowering his gaze. “I’ve thought about that too.”

Carlos reached his hand out against Cecil’s chest, fingers disappearing inside his skin. “How are you?”

Cecil’s eyes remained averted, his tone sad. “I’m….”

He looked up at Carlos, and Carlos looked at him, and in that moment Cecil could see the same pain in Carlos’ eyes that he felt in his chest, and he knew that he wasn’t the only one wishing the scientist’s imaginary touch was much, much more real.

“I’m fine, Carlos,” he said, putting on the softest smile he could to give his boyfriend the most hope he could. “I’ll be fine.” He paused. “And you?”

Carlos shrugged. “I’m laying down in the desert to manifest in bed with you for personal reasons. My head is on a rock.”

Cecil snorted, burying his face in the pillow as he laughed, and Carlos laughed with him, flickering with each breath. They both noticed, both knew what it meant, but said nothing.

“You’ll call me after work?” Carlos asked, and Cecil smiled and nodded.

“Just like every other night, of course.”

Carlos pushed himself up onto his elbows, sinking low into the mattress, and leaned forward, brushing his lips against and through Cecil’s. He closed his eyes, pursed his lips, and just once, just for a moment, it almost felt real. Carlos pulled away slowly, gazing into eyes he couldn’t really see, and Cecil brushed his fingers through hair he couldn’t really feel.

“Don’t let the stranger bother you,” Cecil warned as the flickering began to intensify. “Please, just trust me on this.”

“I won’t,” Carlos responded, still smiling, still touching Cecil’s chest.

“And call me before you sleep so I can read you the news.”

Carlos smiled. “Of course, cariño. Like always.”

Cecil worried at his lip, feeling his tears return. “And I love you.”

The flickering halted for a moment, the image of Carlos strengthening, and despite his warm smile, Cecil could see shimmering tears cutting trails through the dust on his cheeks.

“I love you too, Cecil,” he said, and as the flickering resumed again, as his image became choppy and faded, disappearing into the bright morning sun, he whispered, “I’ll see you soon.”

 


End file.
